


Chocolove

by lessiehanamoray



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Chocolate, Chocolove - Freeform, M/M, Shuake Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:56:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27620345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lessiehanamoray/pseuds/lessiehanamoray
Summary: Goro Akechi and Akira Kurusu head to a chocolate cafe after a trip to the gym and agree to never let Ann order dessert for them again.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Kudos: 36





	Chocolove

Akira Kurusu loved bouldering with his boyfriend. He loved the rush when you reached the top and looked down to see how high you’d gotten. He loved the even soreness throughout his body after a good, long, session. He loved exploring new places.

And he, quite possibly most of all, really loved looking up at his boyfriend climb.

He sat on a bench in their favorite climbing gym, watching Goro Akechi nimbly scale the free-climbing wall.

Damn he had a nice ass. One of those fantastic bubble butts which pants could never quite contain. It was even better in the tight gym pants Goro wore, and Akira could see his boyfriend strain with every muscle in his body as he worked the particularly difficult climb.

If that didn’t count as art, then what did?

Goro heaved himself up the top of the wall. Turning to sit a moment.

And, Akira hoped, to stare back at this boyfriend.

Akira waved. Goro offered a far less enthusiastic wave back. Not too long and he’d head back down.

Sure enough, Goro started moving back down the wall after only a couple minutes of rest. He went down at about the same rate of speed he climbed up, staying in complete control through the whole thing.

Akira greeted him at the bottom with a water bottle.

Goro took it without a word.

“I have got to learn to do that.”

“You have got to practice more,” retorted Goro. He took a big gulp of water. “You should do it with me next time.”

“Not sure about that.”

Goro shoved the water bottle back to Akira, eyes narrowed. “Not much of a rival then.”

“Oh, Sensei, teach me your ways.”

“Shut up.” Goro presented his retort in his usual harsh way, but a big grin revealed the truth of things. He liked when Akira teased him like that. Within reason at least.

Akira had learned quickly in their relationship that such behavior helped keep a good mood, but could turn a sour one to isolation quickly. If Goro didn’t want to put up with something, he didn’t.

Akira offered Goro a small towel for sweat. “We should nab a snack after we shower.”

“As long as it’s not junk.”

Uh-oh. The place Akira had in mind was somewhere Ann had suggested. While he didn’t know much about it, the source of the suggestion implied sugar. And lots of it.

“Cafe. I’m sure they’ll have variety.”

“Takamiki,” murmured Goro. She and Akira were spending a lot of time together lately. Turned out Akira was good help at a fashion shoot. While not directly employed by her company, the photography studio which had hired him worked with Takamaki a lot.

“You know her suggestions are always good.”

“And carb heavy.”

Goro and Akira began moving toward the locker room.

“You don’t exactly need to watch your figure,” Akira reminded his boyfriend.

“Just because your family thinks I’m too thin doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“Hey, I’m smaller than you.”

“And they’d toss you to an American restaurant every day if they could.”

Not inaccurate. Akira’s mother especially had a very exact sense of beauty and if you didn’t match then she wanted to change it. 

The brief time when his mother had just given up on him after the incident with Shido had been pretty great for his personal appearance.

However, Goro was meant to be naturally thicker. He was taller, broader-shouldered, and bigger assed. He needed a little more meat on those bones.

“If it turns out to just be a ton of carbs we’ll run it off.”

“One ridiculous run a day is plenty.”

Oh yeah, Goro ran with Ryuji most mornings. Even the ones where he and Akira went to the gym together.

Goro unlocked their shared locker in the changing room.

“Then I’ll join you next time you and Ryuji can’t meet up.”

Goro tossed Akira’s shower bag at him.

“Liar.”

“I never tell a lie.”

Goro grabbed Akira’s nose. “Is it just me or did your nose just get longer?”

Akira leaned into the grab, forcing Goro to bend his arm back.

Goro let go and spun around, sending Akira headfirst into the locker. He caught himself before a full-on collision at least.

“Meanie.”

“Yet you still hang out with me.”

Date me, mentally corrected Akira. They weren’t exactly hiding that they dated, but Goro still had a hard time admitting it in public. 

Goro grabbed his stuff and headed for the showers, Akira trailing behind him. 

They had this weird rule about not talking in the shower. One Akira stuck to pretty well. He enjoyed quiet time with his boyfriend as much as, or sometimes even more than, active communication.

His boyfriend, huh?

Dammit! Sure, every once in a while someone actually recognized him, but that was an entirely different problem than two guys dating.

It wasn’t really that strange. Not around here. Not in their age bracket. So why?

Akira took a deep breath, scrubbing furiously at his body in a vague attempt to hide how bothered he felt.

If he didn’t calm down by the time they got out of the gym, Goro would for sure bring it up.

Okay, so he just needed Goro to really, truly, and totally act like his boyfriend in public. A nice cafe suggested by Ann seemed like a good place to try, but he’d have to go above and beyond. And he’d have to act like he wasn’t scheming right up until the plan launched.

What had Ann told him about this place?

Chocolate. It specialized in chocolate. Not that he thought about it, it’s name was even Chocolove.

While Goro didn’t have a particularly strong sweet-tooth, Akira did know he enjoyed dark chocolate. The really rich stuff.

Okay. He could work with that. Now, how to surprise him? It wasn’t like Goro wouldn’t notice the sign. Luckily, since it was legitimately Ann’s suggestion he’d probably let it slide, but if Goro ordered he’d probably go for something boring.

Akira wanted to share a ridiculous cake or parfait or something.

Goro left the showers to get dressed. Hmmm.

Maybe he could arrange something while looking at his phone? If they took online orders he stood a chance. Or maybe he could text Ann and she could order something? She didn’t totally approve of Goro, but she also thought they were a good couple. She’d probably go for it. And she’d know what to order too. Besides, messaging his friends wouldn’t stand out.

Yeah. He could do that.

Akira turned off the warm water. He had a mission.

Now to execute it.

  
  


Goro could tell his boyfriend had something planned. It was pretty much always painfully obvious when Akira schemed. He started tilting his face so the glasses reflected more light, making it hard to see his eyes.

The glimmer in his eyes always gave him away, but so did the tell when he tried to hide it.

Whatever. Goro knew it drove Akira nuts how leery he was of public displays of affection. Or even just acknowledgments that they dated.

Years of hiding his true self made it hard for Goro to behave honestly in public. His time as a celebrity had only served to deepen his distrust of the public view.

The public eye could be fooled, but it always seemed to remember the worst.

Besides, he did love Akira Kurusu. He wanted an honest relationship. He just didn’t know how to achieve it.

Given that, if Akira had an idea to pull him out of his shell, who was he to argue the point?

And so they strolled along one of the smaller streets in Shibuya. Akira had spent the first part of the walk clearly texting Takamaki, but now just occasionally glanced down at his map.

Or for a reply. Either seemed equally plausible.

But when Akira stopped to check street signs, Goro figured it was definitely the map.

“Lost?”

“Not yet. It’s just a little out of the way.”

Goro sighed. Well, at least they were getting a good walk in. He enjoyed a decent walk after more strenuous activity.

Even if it led to some surprise date.

Akira started moving again, heading down a narrower neighborhood street.

Fair enough. Many of the best eateries in Tokyo could be found within the neighborhoods. He’d learned that when he first started a food blog.

“Maybe we should have run there.”

“Don’t even joke,” retorted Akira.

“It’s cool enough for a good run.”

“You sound like Ryuji.”

That shut him up. Goro and Ryuji got on better than either had anticipated, but still didn’t like getting compared to one another.

At least, Goro didn’t. Ryuji was a fine running companion, and okay to watch movies with, but still more thick-headed than Goro appreciated.

Akira and Goro walked in silence for a few more minutes, Goro looking up at the apartment buildings around them.

“We need to get our own apartment.”

“Now you’re surprising me.”

Goro shrugged. “I’m cleared to live with someone soon.”

“You can move in with me.”

“I am not moving into the attic of a coffee shop. No matter how fine that shop may be or how cheap the rent.”

“I’m just surprised to hear you say you want to live together.”

“They’ll make me live with someone.”

“Guess so.” Akira looked down at his phone again.

“Lost yet?”

“We’re close.” Akira turned another corner. Not far along that street and they saw it.

  
  


The cafe sat wedged between two apartment buildings. While single-story itself, it had rooftop seating, and a skybridge between the two apartment buildings crossed overhead. It provided cover for the people sitting on the roof, but looked totally bizarre.

The window out front was painted with the name of the place.

Chocolove. Complete with a heart shaped o in love and flowery writing all around.

Akira and Goro stared at it.

A sign out front claimed it served the best chocolate creations in all of Tokyo. Apparently, Mexican hot chocolate was the current special.

“Not your most subtle attempt at this.”

Akira shrugged, somewhat abashed. “Ann said it was good. Come on.”

Goro trailed behind Akira as he made his way to the front.

A bell trilled when he opened the door and the smell of chocolate and fresh baking greeted both the young men.

Akira melted.

Goro buried his nose in his sleeve a moment to dampen the smell until he could adjust. Or to hide drool. Akira still hadn’t quite figured out how Goro felt about certain smells and sweets.

A woman in fairly plain attire and a black apron with the cafe name across the front approached them.

“How may I help you today?”

“Uh,” right, “I had a friend call ahead for a reservation?”

The woman walked up to a small podium with a sheet of paper on it. “Name?”

“Kurusu. Oh, she might have used her name. Takamaki?”

The woman scanned the list. “Ah, yes. A reservation made for two under the name Kurusu. It has a note here that you’ve already ordered our secret menu item.”

Wait. What?

“Uh, sure. Ann must have done that. I’ll have to thank her later.”

“How about after we try it?” Goro dryly remarked from behind him.

“I take it you are the two?”

Akira nodded.

The woman smiled at them, a perfect professional smile. “Alright then. Follow me.”

Akir and Goro followed her to a small table near the back of the cafe. A small water fountain helped soften the noise of the other patrons and limited view.

Now that he thought about…

Akira glanced around. When he had first walked in it had been quite clearly busy, but in this little corner he could only see two other tables. Only one had anyone at it, another couple, and the fountain would block out some of the view when he sat.

Impressive.

He and Goro took their seats. The waitress went to get them some water. Apparently they just handed it out here. Ann had explained that to him actually. That the sugar rush was so intense you needed water to wash it down.

Too sugary for Ann.

Akira shuddered. Now that he actually thought this through, maybe he and Goro shouldn’t have come here.

“Well, we’re here now.”

“Please stop reading my mind.”

Goro side-eyed Akira. “You’re not actually that hard to read.”

“Only to you.”

“And all of your friends.”

“Some of my friends.”

“All of your friends. Pretty sure the only people who can’t read you are your parents.”

Akira winced. “I wonder what the special menu item is? Ann didn’t tell me.”

Goro sighed. “Whatever the case, I suppose I should write a blog post about this place.”

“Yeah. It’s really well designed.”

Goro looked around them. “I’ll give them that. I noticed even the outdoor space had some features to block vision. It’s a good trick to make somewhere feel more intimate.”

“Yeah. I feel like you’d have to work to listen in on someone.”

In that regard, Akira figured he had scored. Taking Goro somewhere public, but intimate, seemed like a good way to try and draw him out of his shell.

The waitress came back with two glasses of water and a pitcher. Akira appreciated that, while not super expensive by the feel of them, these glasses had somewhat of an engraved and frosted look. They matched the pitcher too.

Nice.

Goro slid the glasses over by the pitcher and stood to get a good picture of it.

“Nice touch.”

“Yeah. Don’t see that too often.”

Goro sat back down. “You sound more nervous than me.”

“Sorry. I just..I guess you mentioning apartments earlier shook me up a little.”

“Hmm-hmm.” Goro leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re clearly lying, but I wish to discuss it, so I’ll bite. What do you think of moving in together?”

“You’ll still have limited mobility, right?”

Goro sighed. “I’ll still have to report travel plans, but we can go on trips, Akira. We already do.”

“Yeah, but I mean, where we live. You’ll have check-ups right?”

“Yes, but with growing gaps between them, and it’s not a hard commute. As long as we’re within Tokyo proper, it will be fine.”

Akira took a sip of water. He supposed his feelings about Goro living in a mental health institution weren’t so different from how Goro felt about dating. It made him happy that Goro could sort through his thoughts. That he got therapy.

Akira just didn’t like discussing it, especially in public.

A cool hand touched his face.

“Akira. I’m not going anywhere.”

Without a thought, Akira gently placed his hand on Goro’s. He was here. He was real. He was staying.

Akira knew all of this but…

“I know, but it always feels like a lie.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Akira drug Goro’s hand with his to rest on the table. 

“And if you don’t?”

“Oh, I will. It might not be pretty, but I fight with the best of them.” Goro slid his hand away for Akira now. “And for the best of them.” He sighed. “Now.”

“You always did.”

“Oh?”

“You always fought for yourself.”

Goro blushed. Actually blushed. It was tiny, but Akira didn’t miss it.

“Are you ready for our special menu item?”

Both men turned to see the waitress holding a giant glass of...what?

The bottom portion looked like a milkshake. Chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup in a see-through glass. Sure, a metal stand supported it and it rested on the plate to avoid dripping, but it looked like a milkshake or frappe.

She placed it on the table.

Above the milkshake rose a mound of stuff. First off was just an orb, or at least Akira assumed it was an orb, of chocolate chips. He couldn’t even fathom what held them all together. On top of that rested a slice of chocolate cake. It too had chocolate chips in it, though darker than the ones underneath.

Yet on top of that was a mound of whipped cream. Chocolate whipped cream. Drizzled with some sort of chocolate syrup.

And by some miracle none of these chocolates shared a color, creating a collage of browns and blacks. 

The waitress set down two spoons.

“This is the Chocolove Shakedown. It starts with a chocolate milkshake. We then place dark chocolate ice cream,” Akira could see Goro’s ears perk at the confirmation of dark chocolate, “on top and carefully surround it in mini chocolate chips. Those same chips are used to make the chocolate cake. It’s an extremely dense dark chocolate cake, softened by the mellower chocolate whipped cream.”

Akira felt like he’d be sick just looking at it. Everything about it sounded, and looked, delicious, but the sheer volume overwhelmed him. Then again, it wasn’t like he was expected to eat it alone.

“Well then, I hope you enjoy.”

Goro stood the moment she left to try and get a good picture of the monstrosity before them.

“Chocolove Shakedown, huh?”

“So much sugar.”

“Are you going sugar comatose one me? You haven’t even tasted it yet.”

“I’m scared.”

Goro snapped a few pics from a couple different angles, some with flash and others without.

“And I am not eating this thing on my own.”

“Bet you could.”

Goro sat down and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“You’d regret it.”

“I’d regret it if you ate the whole thing?”

“Yes.”

Goro lifted a spoon. Akira tentatively did the same.

“Let’s...dig in?”

Goro lifted his spoon and set it on the whipped cream layer. He didn’t move it either until Akira had taken his own section of whipped cream.

Ultimately, the two ended up pretty much matching bite for bite, though not all in the same things. Goro didn’t care as much for the whipped cream, but dove headlong into the cake and the ice cream layer. Akira found he preferred the sweeter chocolate of the whipped cream and milkshake proper.

Amazingly, they ate the whole thing.

Akira leaned back in his seat, guzzling water in an attempt to dilute the sugar.

“Takamaki never orders dessert again. For anything.”

“It was good.”

“It was too much.”

“You didn’t slow until you’d finished off the ice cream. Pretty sure I just got a couple mouthfuls or that.”

“At which point you dove for the shake, disrupting the structural integrity of the whole thing.”

“It would have fallen apart anyway.”

“Now if we ate it evenly.”

“Like you didn’t want all of the ice cream for yourself.”

“Just because I did, doesn’t mean you should have let me eat it.”

“That goes to both of us.”

Goro’s stomach grumbled out a complaint. “Fair enough. I am never eating that much ice cream in a single sitting again.”

“I’m not sure I’ll ever eat that much ice cream again. Total. In my entire life.”

Goro grinned at Akira. Akira found himself grinning back.

“Okay, maybe in my entire life.”

The waitress came back up, eyes wide when she realized they’d eaten the whole thing.

“How did you enjoy it?”

“Every bite was delicious,” Akira assured her. “We’re definitely feeling the sugar though.”

“There’s a small park not far from here. It’s a good place to clear your head.” She set the check down in front of them. Akira snatched it off the table before Goro could even glance at it.

“I’ll be up front.” Once more she left.

“We should split it.”

“No.” Akira stood.

“Your eyes widened.”

“I’m paying.”

Goro once more trailed slightly behind Akira, though this time he was definitely trying to get a look at the bill.

“You don’t have to.”

“My date idea. My bill.”

“You pay for most of mine too.”

“Your ideas are cheaper.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Not really. Just...more than I thought.”

“You sure you don’t want me to split the bill?”

“Yes.”

Akira handed a couple of bills to the waitress.

“Alright. At least let me pay for drinks when we inevitably need to get more water.”

She handed Akira back a shockingly small amount of change. Akira shoved it into his pocket before Goro could count it.

“Sounds like a plan.”


End file.
